Chapter 93: Heavenly Doctor Has an Immortal Scripture

The white-haired old man looked familiar, but Lin Fan couldn't recall where he had seen him before. He had a kind, benevolent face, like a friendly old grandpa next door, making people feel an immediate fondness for him.

Of course, Lin Fan knew the man couldn't be just an ordinary person. Undoubtedly, the old man's cultivation was far too high, well beyond Lin Fan's current ability to sense. This made Lin Fan even more cautious. He bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Senior."

The white-haired old man chuckled in response, "There's no need to be so formal. I'm just an old man who should have died but hasn't." He paused, then kindly asked, "Are you the one submitting the 'Cloudwater Diagram and Scroll'?"

Lin Fan nodded, then handed over the colorful miniature model. The white-haired old man took the miniature Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, examining it closely, a look of profound nostalgia in his eyes. "Yes, this is it," he murmured. "Vast Sea, Tai Yi, Fu Yun... Long time no see." As if lost in thought, the old man's gaze grew somewhat hazy.

Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat at the old man's words. He stood silently to the side, not daring to make any move. From what the old man said, did that mean he was from the same generation as the Turtle-Snake Tai Yi? The destruction of the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace had happened countless years ago. How could this person have lived from that time until now? One had to know that after the Great Tribulation, cultivators were generally targeted by the world's malice. They could no longer enjoy the long lifespans of ancient cultivators. Living for a thousand years was already extremely difficult. What kind of cultivation level would it take to live this long? Spirit Transformation? Dao Integration? Lin Fan dared not make wild guesses; he simply grew more wary. In this world where immortal cultivation methods couldn't be practiced concurrently, to have lived through the Great Tribulation until now... Such a powerful figure... If one truly believed he would be as "benevolent" as he appeared, it would be far too naive.

The white-haired old man looked at the somewhat nervous Lin Fan and chuckled softly. "What is the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace like now?" he asked. Lin Fan then thoroughly described Qin Tang, who had turned into a stone statue; the Worm Daoist, who was refining elixirs using himself; and Tai Yi, whose body was impaled with broken swords.

"If not for special reasons, I wouldn't be able to enter the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace. Nor would I have stood by watching them suffer." After a long silence, the old man sighed with endless emotion. "To have emerged alive from the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, you show some shrewdness," the old man remarked, eyeing Lin Fan approvingly.

"Just by luck," Lin Fan humbly replied.

"I have another request. Are you willing to undertake it?" the white-haired old man suddenly asked.

"Please tell me, Senior."

"When you have time, make another trip to the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace for me and simply place this item there." The white-haired old man produced a small white jade statuette and handed it to Lin Fan. The statuette had no special aura; it seemed to be carved from ordinary jade. Its appearance was identical to that of the white-haired old man standing before him.

"Since I cannot enter the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace myself, let this statuette represent me, accompanying them always."

"As for the reward..." The white-haired old man pondered for a moment, then pointed a finger towards Lin Fan's glabella. Instantly, countless pieces of information flooded Lin Fan's mind. Even with Lin Fan's mid-Qi Refinement spiritual sense strength, he couldn't help but feel dizzy and his head swelled. By the time he recovered, the white-haired old man's figure had already vanished from the Heavenly Profound Mirror. And a hundred thousand contribution points had successfully been credited to his account.

Slowly sifting through the vast amount of information in his mind, it took Lin Fan a long time to understand what the white-haired old man's reward was. It was the "Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture." Not a cultivation technique, but a medical scripture. It not only encompassed the study of human physiology, pathology, diagnosis, treatment, and pharmacology, but its scope even extended to various animals and plants throughout the world. It could be described as all-encompassing and exhaustive. The sheer volume of information was so immense that Lin Fan estimated it would take him at least a decade just to read through it once. This vast and valuable treasure trove of knowledge had been casually bestowed upon Lin Fan by the white-haired old man.

"It's a good thing, no doubt. Unfortunately, it's too energy-intensive to learn right now. I'll have to set it aside for the time being."

Lin Fan dared not neglect the white-haired old man's request. After all, the powerful figure had even given the reward in advance. So, Lin Fan made another trip to the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace. He had expected his clone to re-experience Senior Brother Qin Tang's dream trial upon re-entry. However, after the statuette in his storage ring emitted a flash of white light, Lin Fan found himself directly in front of the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace gate.

The old man's statuette autonomously left Lin Fan's storage ring and flew high into the sky. Then, like melting ice and snow, it slowly dissolved and disappeared.

"Is the task already complete? That was a bit too simple and smooth," Lin Fan mumbled to himself. He waited for a moment longer, but nothing unusual happened inside the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace. "I wonder what purpose that statuette served." Unable to discern any profound secret, Lin Fan could only choose to leave.

Safely back inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Lin Fan gazed at his balance of a hundred thousand contribution points and fell into deep thought. Originally, Lin Fan had planned for his clone to directly exchange the acquired hundred thousand contribution points for the necessary cultivation techniques and treasures, then hand them over to his main body. This was similar to how Xiao Heng had exchanged for the "Minor Evolution Water Art" and sent it to Lin Fan in the previous life.

However, after meeting the white-haired old man, Lin Fan abandoned this idea. It now seemed best for the clone and the main body to have no connection whatsoever. The white-haired old man always gave Lin Fan an extremely dangerous feeling. Currently, the clone had fallen under his observation. If the main body and the clone were to carelessly interact, and he discovered their connection... Given the miraculous nature of the "Heaven-Stealing, Sun-Replacing Art," even if the white-haired old man's cultivation was supremely high, there was no guarantee he wouldn't be tempted. After all, in this dangerous cultivation world, people could even be refined into Heavenly and Earthly wonders. One could never be too cautious.

As for whether these hundred thousand contribution points would go to waste in the clone's hands, unable to be spent... There was no need for such worry at all. After all, in this world, the most precious things were all kinds of knowledge, including cultivation techniques! When the clone browsed various kinds of knowledge, it was equivalent to the main body simultaneously viewing them. Therefore, whether these hundred thousand contribution points were spent by the clone or by the main body, the effect would be the same.

Composing himself, Lin Fan first searched for information regarding the "Ancient War." While inside the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, he had been quite intrigued by the frontline war that Qin Tang and the Worm Daoist repeatedly mentioned. That war seemed to have been quite brutal, making them unable to forget it even after turning into abnormalities. Soon, Lin Fan found a few fragmented pieces of information. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the extremely distant past, all related records were vague and lacking detail. The only thing that could be confirmed was the existence of such a major conflict. This war seemed to have been protracted, starting even before the Immortal Venerable spread his teachings. It continued until the advent of the Great Tribulation, only then ceasing. Next, Lin Fan searched for information related to Heavenly and Earthly wonders.